It was announced on Tuesday that two of the most recognizable and well-heeled sports franchises
in the world — Manchester City FC, owned by a prince from the United Arab Emirates; and the New
York Yankees — joined for a bid for a Major League Soccer franchise. Their expansion team will be
called New York City FC. It will begin play in one of the five boroughs in 2015.

Say what? Oil money, the English Premier League, the damn Yankees, MLS and New York, all
together in the same sentence? Goodness. It was not too long ago when such a thing would have
seemed crazy.

“I remember playing in front of 3,000 people in 80,000-seat football stadiums — now look where
we are,” said Frankie Hejduk, the Crew’s fan ambassador.

Hejduk played for the Tampa Bay Mutiny during the inaugural MLS season in 1996. After a stint in
Europe, he joined the Crew, was a five-time All-Star and won an MLS Cup. He also represented the
U.S. in two Olympics and two World Cups.

“Everyone questioned MLS when it started; was it going to make it?” Hejduk said. “Look at it 17
years later. It is here and it is growing. This (new franchise) takes it to a different level. It
has put a buzz around the sport — not only here, but in Europe. Players over there are starting to
understand that this is a legit league. I think it won’t be long before they start coming over here
when they’re 26, 27 years old.”

A new franchise in America’s largest market can only add to MLS’ legitimacy — if it works, and
that is not a lead-pipe cinch.

For years, the league has been trying to put a team in New York, which is so close and yet so
far from Harrison, N.J., where the New York Red Bulls reside. NYCFC might be well-funded by a
collection of smart sportsmen, but the bid came together only when the Yankees signed on last week.
They have much yet to calculate.

Can the expansion club find a home field?
The New York Times ran a story yesterday detailing the many hurdles on the way to building
a stadium in Queens, or in any other borough. Not all New Yorkers are welcoming — the Mets are not
thrilled, for instance — and any project of this size comes with enough red tape to fill Citi
Field. As it is, NYCFC will be in temporary quarters, yet to be identified, for at least one
season.

Can it thrive in a market that is crowded with pro sports teams? It will not be easy. MLS has a
salary cap with a low ceiling. Teams can exceed the cap with three designated players. Can NYCFC
win hearts with just three stars? Can it even challenge the Premier League for supporters in
Manhattan’s sundry soccer pubs?

Put another way: Can the new team find an identity that is not Man City’s little brother? Alexi
Lalas, former general manager of the other New York franchise, was particularly lucid on this
point.

“I do question limiting your market and your customers and having to live up to the ‘mother ship’<
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< < < < < within a league with a salary cap,” Lalas told Reuters. “When the compare
and contrast with Manchester City occurs, as it inevitably will, they are going to have to say that
they are just as good. That is a difficult proposition, but that is potentially what they are
creating.”

These questions will all be answered, eventually — and probably to the affirmative, given the
power behind the expansion bid, the money involved and the evolution of MLS.

“Just think about how the league has been built, from the ground up,” Hejduk said. “They paid $5
million (for each of the 10) original franchises. Now there are 20 and the price is $100 million.
That is just mind-blowing, to see how it happened so fast.”